Louisa’s is the official meeting place of Seattle Open Coffee, a low key gathering of entrepreneurs who come to discuss the trials and tribulations of starting new businesses. In many cases, the two dozen or so entrepreneurs who show up just want someone to talk to. After all, starting a new business can be a lonely endeavor.

“I feel like I have been in a dungeon for six weeks. I have been in the basement coding away,” said Fremont Forward founder Brian McNaboe, who attended Open Coffee for the first time “to get some fresh air” and see if he could find a partner for his online music mixing service.

Others came to get advice about raising money or where to locate good programmers.

Seattle Open Coffee is the brainchild of Judy’s Book founder Andy Sack, a long-time entrepreneur who started hosting the free event in early April because he didn’t think there were any good places to talk shop with other entrepreneurs.

“Startups are hard,” says Sack, who previously sold Firefly Network to Microsoft and Abuzz to The New York Times.

Creating a comfortable setting where entrepreneurs can exchange ideas is important because it can open doors to new possibilities. To get the group started, Sack simply posted a message on his blog.

“I’ve long complained that there isn’t more early stage entrepreneur and investor networking in Seattle….so I decided to try and do something about it,” wrote Sack, who asked friends to spread the word.

Now, about 20 entrepreneurs show up on a regular basis.

On a recent Tuesday morning, Experticity founder D.L. Baron chatted with other entrepreneurs and extolled the virtues of his company’s software for helping retailers set up video-based customer service. He attended for the camaraderie.

“Half of it is just sharing the pain,” said Baron, who was attending his first Open Coffee. “It is sharing war stories.”

Open Coffee is not entirely unique. A number of entrepreneurial groups have blossomed in the past couple of years in Seattle, fueled in part by the new-found enthusiasm sweeping through the startup community and new online networking tools that make it easy to set up and promote events.

Seattle Mind Camp, which bills itself as “a self-organizing, digitally minded, entrepreneur-driven, overnight Seattle confab”, plans to host its fourth event on July 1 at the Tukwila Community Center. And Ignite Seattle routinely brings together “geeks, techies and makers” to discuss the latest happenings in the technology world, while Refresh Seattle holds monthly meetings about new media and design.

In many cases, these groups have a decidedly grass roots feel that runs counter to the glitzy conferences and expensive networking events that dominated the last tech boom. Gone are the platters of shrimp cocktail, replaced by chips and beer.

After the meeting, members of the group continue their discussions over a few beers at a local pub.

Groom said he started the group because he needed social interaction with other entrepreneurs.

“When you go from working in a company to working alone most of the time, you miss the peer contact,” he said.

But there is also an element of education, with Seattle Tech Startups recently coordinating speakers to discuss everything from public relations to intellectual property law. Those are topics often addressed at bigger conferences, but the Seattle Tech Startups meeting is much more interactive and, for entrepreneurs trying to make ends meet, free.

Biznik started with a similar grass roots style when Dan McComb and his wife started looking for other creative professionals in Seattle to discuss photography and Web design. McComb said he was unable to find a business network that married “good online community tools with face-to-face events,” so two years ago he formed a group for “bootstrapping entrepreneurs.” As word spread, the network continued to grow and McComb found himself devoting most of his time to the project.

The company’s 3,200 members have now set up more than 200 events at coffee shops, bars and community centers, mostly around Seattle and mostly free. On June 9, the company will kick off its biggest event to date. The BizJam conference, which costs $130 for non-members, is billed as a “business-building marathon of ideas, inspiration and innovation.”

McComb says the events are “very organic,” allowing members to network with people they trust and learn from people who share similar interests.

“Our whole thing is collaboration over competition,” said McComb. “As a small business person, you have a lot more to gain by collaborating than competing.”